In December 1970, Li Desheng, who had just returned to Anhui for a month, received an urgent notice from the Central Committee that Chairman Mao had something to do with him and needed him to return to Beijing immediately. According to the regulations, politburo members who are on leave in other places do not need to attend daily meetings, so why did Chairman Mao urgently summon Li Desheng this time?
Li Desheng did not have time to think about it, quickly arranged his work, took a plane back to Beijing, and after getting off the plane, he kept going straight to Zhongnanhai. At that time, Chairman Mao had just finished swimming, and after seeing Li Desheng, he did not say much, and said straight to the point:
"Enlai and I are ready to make you the commander of the Beijing Military Region, and I am not at ease that others will do it."
Picture 丨 Li Desheng old photo
Although Li Desheng joined the Red Army when he was less than 14 years old, he did not have direct contact with Chairman Mao before 1968, so why was Li Desheng so trusted by Chairman Mao in just two years?
Li Desheng was born into a poor peasant family, and when Li Desheng's hometown of Xinxian welcomed the Communist Party and the Red Army, Li Desheng joined the local children's group and began to follow the Communist Party in making a revolution. In 1930, li desheng, who was less than 14 years old, signed up for the Red Army, and because of his bravery in battle and his cleverness, Li Desheng was soon discovered by the head of the unit.
Under the arrangement of the head of the unit, Li Desheng became a battalion headquarters correspondent, and was soon transferred to the regiment because of his excellent performance, and at the same time was trained by the unit to focus on him. Working at the chief's side, Li Desheng was quickly promoted, from a messenger to a squad leader of the traffic team, and then to the post of party branch secretary of the division organ.
Picture 丨 Li Desheng (middle)
In 1934, the Red Fourth Front began its western expedition, and Li Desheng participated in many important battles with a large army. At a meeting summing up combat experience, Li Desheng said that the organizational life of party branches has been somewhat relaxed recently, and warned everyone to pay close attention to ideology. This was a very ordinary sentence, but it was taken out of context and sent a small report to the division political commissar, which directly led to Li Desheng being removed from his post as secretary of the party branch and expelled from the party.
Li Desheng couldn't figure it out in any way, he said a few words that he usually said, and he was expelled from the party after making some demands, and other party members also thought it was unfair and reported the matter to the division commander Chen Xilian. Chen Xilian was not satisfied with denying the decision of the division political commissar, so he summoned Li Desheng to talk, and after asking the original committee, Chen Xilian instructed Li Desheng to lay down his burdens and prove himself in his work. Under the enlightenment of Chen Xilian, Li Desheng quickly restored his party membership and re-served as the squad leader.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Li Desheng was promoted to the position of communication platoon leader, and as a young commander, Li Desheng led the soldiers not only to eliminate a large number of enemies, but also to arm the captured materials to everyone in the platoon, and sent a large number of weapons and ammunition to other units.
Picture 丨 Chen Xilian old photo
As a member of the grassroots platoon with outstanding combat achievements, Li Desheng quickly attracted the attention and promotion of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Bocheng. Before the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Desheng had been promoted to regimental commander. After the liberation war began, Li Desheng was appointed brigade commander of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, and at that time Li Desheng was only 30 years old, which was a relatively young senior commander in our army. Under the command of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, Li Desheng fought many beautiful battles, the most famous of which was the battle to capture Xiangfan.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, Lee Tak-sang took the initiative to ask him to join the DPRK to fight, and in 1951 Lee Deok-sang led his troops into the DPRK as the commander of a division. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, one of the most famous battles commanded by Li Desheng was the Late Battle of Shangganling. At that time, Li Desheng should have led the troops to rest, and after receiving the order from the corps, Li Desheng sent elite troops to enter the forward position and reached the command post of the Five Holy Mountains against the enemy's artillery fire.
Under the unified command of Li Desheng, our army dealt a heavy blow to the enemy at a relatively small price, and the enemy, who was embarrassed and angry, organized heavy troops to carry out a key attack on Shangganling. On November 1, 1952, the enemy's aircraft and heavy artillery repeatedly bombarded our positions, and Li Desheng organized troops to return fire while sending people to rebuild the fortifications, gritting his teeth and repelling dozens of enemy attacks. After Chairman Mao learned of the situation in Shangganling, he personally drafted a telegram to commend Li Desheng's department.
Li Desheng commanded the battle at the Battle of Shangganling
After much deliberation, Li Desheng decided to switch from defense to active attack, and under the cover of our army's artillery fire, Li Desheng commanded the troops to rush into the enemy's position in three ways, and it took only half an hour to annihilate the enemy completely. Subsequently, more than a dozen counterattacks by the enemy were repelled, and the position was completely consolidated. After holding out for more than a month, Li Desheng handed over the position to the Fifteenth Army, and at that time the position of our army in Shangganling was already very strong.
Li Desheng fought very beautifully in the Battle of Shangganling, and after returning to China, he was widely praised, and the organization also attached special importance to the cultivation of Li Desheng. In September 1968, Li Desheng began to serve as deputy commander of the Nanjing Military Region, first secretary of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee, and the following month as the head of Anhui Province to attend the Twelfth Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
At the meeting, Premier Zhou announced the list of groups, and when Li Desheng's name was read, Chairman Mao interrupted Premier Zhou and asked:
"Which is Li Desheng?"
Pictured: Li Desheng (front row, first from left) poses with his comrades-in-arms
Premier Zhou briefly briefed Chairman Mao on Li Desheng's post and beckoned Li Desheng to stand up. Li Desheng stood up and saluted Chairman Mao, who carefully looked at Li Desheng and said with a smile:
"I don't know you, you comrade."
Although Li Desheng had met Chairman Mao many times before this, Chairman Mao did not have any impression of Li Desheng. Chairman Mao then asked where Li Desheng was from, and when he heard that Li Desheng was from Xinxian County, Henan, Premier Zhou interjected:
"Comrade Xu Shiyou is from the same county, right?" The hometown of the Red Fourth Front. ”
Picture 丨 Li Desheng on the battlefield (top two from the left)
Chairman Mao then asked Li Desheng how old he was, and Li Desheng replied that he was 52 years old. Chairman Mao told everyone that anhui's affairs were doing well, but didn't he inform Li Desheng about his affairs in Wuhu before? Then Chairman Mao turned to Li Desheng and asked how he did it. Li Desheng did not expect Chairman Mao to ask questions in front of so many people, and after thinking for a moment he said six words:
"It's about creating public opinion!"
The participants present thought that Li Desheng was talking about the opening remarks, and they were all listening carefully to how Li Desheng continued to answer Chairman Mao's questions, who knew that after Li Desheng finished saying those six words, he stood there alone. The atmosphere of the venue was suddenly a little strange, and suddenly someone let out a laugh, breaking the strange atmosphere. Chairman Mao also laughed, took Li Desheng's words and continued:
"Yes, it is necessary to get public opinion early, otherwise how can we build so many troops, without the masses, there will be no army, no party, no proletarian power."
Figure 丨 Li Desheng after the founding of the People's Republic of China
It is precisely because Li Desheng's work in Anhui is outstanding that it has aroused the great concern of Chairman Mao. In April 1969, Li Desheng again attended the First Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China as a representative of Anhui Province. At the meeting, the members and alternate members of the Politburo of the Central Committee were elected, Premier Zhou announced the election results, and when he read that Li Desheng had been elected as an alternate member of the Politburo, Chairman Mao once again proposed:
"I'll look at Comrade Li Desheng again."
Premier Zhou motioned for Li Desheng to stand up, and Li Desheng got up and put on his military hat and saluted Chairman Mao.
"Comrade Desheng, please take off your hat."
General Li Desheng took off his hat and demurely faced the rostrum, and Chairman Mao looked at this old Red Army soldier who had experienced hundreds of battles and was full of style, and could not help but ask Li Desheng again:
"How old are you this year?"
"I'm 53 years old." Li Desheng replied.
Chairman Mao repeated several times: "53 years old, 53 years old..."
After attending the meeting, Li Desheng returned to Anhui to continue his work. One day three months later, Mr. Li suddenly received a phone call from Premier Zhou saying that the central authorities had decided to transfer him to Beijing. Li Desheng felt too sudden and hoped that Premier Zhou would continue to work in Anhui, and Premier Zhou said on the phone:
"This is decided by the central authorities, please arrange your work and come to Beijing." Give a call to Beijing before you come and they'll arrange a plane to pick you up. ”
Li Desheng reported to Hua Guofeng
Premier Zhou met him at Huairentang and asked him whether he wanted to work at the Central Military Commission or the State Council.
"I've been in the army for a long time and I'm willing to do local work."
Perhaps Premier Zhou did not expect to receive such an answer from Li Desheng, and after a moment of silence continued to tell Li Desheng that the Central Committee had decided to let him participate in some activities of the State Council and the Central Military Commission in addition to the activities of the Politburo, and at the same time concurrently hold his previous position in Anhui Province. Subsequently, Premier Zhou gave Li Desheng a detailed introduction to the situation of these work, and asked Li Desheng in detail when he would be able to move to Beijing, and Li Desheng proposed that he needed to return to Anhui for a few days to deploy the whole work, and Premier Zhou immediately agreed:
"I'm allowed to go back to you for a month's leave to arrange it, and come back quickly when you're done."
Picture: Li Desheng inspects the grass-roots units
Li Desheng arranged for anhui to rush back to Beijing immediately, and it was not long before Premier Zhou informed him that Chairman Mao was going to receive him. Li Desheng followed Premier Zhou to Zhongnanhai, when Chairman Mao was reading a book, and after seeing Li Desheng, Chairman Mao got up and shook hands with Li Desheng, smiled, and said:
"Li Desheng, my name is Also Li Desheng (Desheng)."
During the Yan'an period, Chairman Mao used the pseudonym "Li Desheng", and in Hunan dialect, "Desheng" and "Desheng" were pronounced the same, and people around them laughed when they heard Chairman Mao's words. Chairman Mao motioned for everyone to sit down, and when he saw that Li Desheng was a little nervous, Chairman Mao picked up the reading glasses that Premier Zhou had put on the table and put them on, and asked Li Desheng:
"Are you going to wear glasses too?"
Picture 丨 Li Desheng and Xu Shiyou and others took a group photo
Chairman Mao's subsequent question made Li Desheng's nervous mood suddenly relax, and he replied that Chairman Mao said that he should wear it when reading a book. Chairman Mao then said to Li Desheng:
"I got to know you through other comrades, and they all said you were good."
Immediately after that, Chairman Mao inquired about the situation in Anhui, and Li Desheng gave detailed answers one by one. Chairman Mao also asked Li Desheng what books he read in his daily life, and Li Desheng replied that his education level was not high, and he usually liked to read some books on military theory. Chairman Mao persuaded Li Desheng to say:
"It's not enough to read military books, or should you read and write books in other aspects, have you read "Dream of the Red Chamber"?"
Chairman Mao instructed Li Desheng to read "Dream of the Red Chamber" as history, and at the same time he should read "The Theory of Heavenly Speech" and "The End of the Chronicle of the General Examination." Later, when Premier Zhou talked about the work arrangements for Li Desheng, Li Desheng felt that he had too many posts and too heavy burdens, and hoped to be able to remove the work of the Anhui and Nanjing military regions. Chairman Mao waved his hand and said:
"Don't be exempt, don't be exempt from none, don't be exempt from Nanjing, and don't be exempt from Anhui."
Premier Zhou encouraged Li Desheng to say that he would work boldly in accordance with Chairman Mao's instructions, and Chairman Mao would give specific instructions on Li Desheng's work:
"You are working and studying at the same time, and you are assigned three 'thirds', one-third of the time to work in Beijing, one-third of the time to study, and between one-third to the bottom to do investigation and research."
Figure丨 Li Desheng inspected the work
Since then, Li Desheng has embarked on a special period of political life in accordance with Chairman Mao's instructions of these three "one-thirds." At the end of 1970, Li Desheng asked the Politburo for leave to return to Anhui to work, and on the afternoon of December 19, Li Desheng was organizing discussions on the specific matters of the Third Party Congress in Anhui Province, and the staff hurried into the conference room and said something in Li Desheng's ear.
After the meeting, Li Desheng called Song Peizhang and said that the General Office of the Central Committee had called and that Chairman Mao needed him to return to Beijing immediately. Early the next morning, Li Desheng took a special plane back to Beijing, and on the plane, Li Desheng could not imagine what Chairman Mao was looking for in himself; according to the regulations, members of the Politburo who were on leave could not attend daily meetings. After the plane landed at the Beijing Air Force airport, Li Desheng rushed to Zhongnanhai without stopping.
Pictured by Li Desheng (center) and the military political commissar
After Li Desheng came to Zhongnanhai, Chairman Mao had just finished swimming, and his mood was relatively relaxed; after seeing Li Desheng, he casually asked about the situation in Anhui, and Li Desheng wanted Chairman Mao to summon him in such a hurry, and he certainly did not want to understand the situation in Anhui, but he still made a report to Chairman Mao in 1510. After listening to Li Desheng's report, Chairman Mao nodded with satisfaction:
"Enlai and I have already decided that we want you to serve as the commander of the Beijing Military Region, and I am not at ease that others will do it."
At that time, Li Desheng was very surprised, he was already holding several positions at that time, and now Chairman Mao had made himself the commander of the Beijing Military Region, and the pressure on his body was really great, so he asked Chairman Mao to be relieved of the work of his General Political Department, and Chairman Mao refused his request:
"There are still deputy directors of the Political Department, so you put your main energy into the Beijing Military Region and sit on your butt in the Beijing Military Region."
On the occasion of the Tenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1973, the Politburo held a meeting to discuss the nomination of the chairman and vice chairman, and Chairman Mao asked everyone who would be the chairman. Chairman Mao said that he could organize an advisory committee and serve as an adviser himself, but as a result, everyone did not approve of Chairman Mao's proposal, and Chairman Mao said:
"You all don't approve of it, so I have to be the chairman and bow down."
Pictured: Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou
Immediately after Chairman Mao asked everyone who would be the vice chairman, Premier Zhou gave a report on the meeting of the Politburo and proposed several candidates.
"There are old candidates and young candidates, that is, there is no middle, and we should combine the old, the middle, and the young!"
Many people present had ideas and put forward several candidates who were in the middle-aged stage, and Chairman Mao again said that he suggested that this "middle" should be selected from within the army. Premier Zhou took up the words and agreed with Chairman Mao's opinion, and he proposed that Comrade Li Desheng be made one of the candidates. Chairman Mao nodded his head and said, "Yes." However, Li Desheng was not mentally prepared at all, and when he heard that he was listed as one of the candidates for vice chairmanship, he hurriedly got up and said:
"I am not suitable, my qualifications and ability are not enough, and I think Comrade Li Xiannian can be a candidate for vice chairman."
At that time, Li Xiannian sat next to Li Desheng and pulled Li Desheng and said, The chairman has expressed his position, you should not say it again. At the First Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee held on August 30, Li Desheng was elected vice chairman of the Central Committee.
Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping had a cordial conversation
In December of the same year, Chairman Mao presided over a meeting of the Politburo in his study, at which Chairman Mao proposed that the commanders of the major military regions of the country should be adjusted against each other, and that if a person sits in one place for a long time, negative factors will appear. Chairman Mao pointed to Deng Xiaoping, who had recently returned, and said:
"I want to add a secretary-general to the Politburo, you don't want this name, then be a chief of staff."
On December 20, Chairman Mao held a meeting in the study to transfer the commanders of the eight major military regions, with Zhu De sitting on Chairman Mao's left side, Deng Xiaoping sitting on Chairman Mao's right side, and Premier Zhou and others sitting behind Chairman Mao in turn. When Chairman Mao shook hands with Tian Weixin and explained that the General Political Department would be entrusted to him in charge, Tian Weixin, who was unprepared, immediately reacted and told Chairman Mao that Comrade Li Desheng would be left with a deputy director of his own, and asked Chairman Mao to appoint a director. Chairman Mao said with great certainty:
"No, you're in charge!"
Figure 丨 Commander of the Eight Military Regions
Tian Weixin continued to ask Chairman Mao to send a director, but Chairman Mao did not answer. After the meeting began, Chairman Mao humorously said to Li Desheng:
"It's not good to be in one place for a long time, you haven't been doing it for so long in the Beijing Military Region, you're tied up." The Li family has produced a 'Li Tiemei', you are Li Tiemei, do something good, in the future God will also invite you to drink shochu. ”
In this way, Li Desheng left Beijing and was transferred to the Shenyang Military Region as a commander, becoming the first vice chairman of the Central Committee in the history of our party to serve in a foreign country.